Steven Souza: 2014 Nationals Year in Review

Steven Souza Jr. spent most of the season at Triple-A Syracuse and he did quite well. He was named the International League Player of the Year and was called up to the big leagues for the first time in his career.

At Triple-A Syracuse he hit .350/.432/.590 with 25 doubles and 18 home runs. He did everything he could to get to Washington D.C. and try to make a difference. 2014 was easily his best season since becoming a professional baseball player and he deserved a shot to show what he had at the major league level.

The thing is, once he got to the Nationals he didn’t show too much of what he did in Syracuse. This is probably because he wasn’t getting consistent at-bats. He was getting an at-bat here, an at-bat there and I don’t care who you are, it is hard to be productive that way. In the 26 games he played, he played the entire nine innings three times. He was mostly a late-inning defensive replacement or got a pinch-hit appearance.

He got his first hit in his third major league game, but after that had a lot of trouble at the plate. He ended with three hits in 23 at-bats, good for a .130 average. The one thing he will be remembered for in 2014 is this catch:

That catch just happened to save the first Washington Nationals no-hitter on the final day of the season. I still don’t know how he caught it, but he did and will forever be in the history of the Nationals baseball, no matter what he does from this point forward.

Souza could end up being a bench bat in 2015, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. He will most likely be back in Triple-A with Syracuse as they try to win a Northern division title in the IL. Once he gets some consistent at-bats there we may see him back in a Nationals uniform, but the thing he needs most right now is at-bats and that is the place that he will get them.